Adverts make spending ‘cool’

A spokesperson for Which? said that it was worried that adverts encouraged irresponsible spending among consumers, pushing them into debt.

Commenting on Capital One being reprimanded by the Banking Code Standards Board for sending one million customers credit card cheques last year, the spokesperson said: “I mean, talking about Capital One, we recently campaigned about their adverts which used the term ‘urge to splurge’.

“We thought that was ridiculous – you’re just encouraging people, in a really irresponsible way, to borrow more and more money. We thought that was an absolutely shocking advert.”

Although recent figures show that credit card debt levels are reaching a plateau, Britons still owe a total of nearly £1.3 trillion.

Which? fears that those without adequate financial knowledge may feel that banks are giving them free money, adding to the total debt level.

“It is a shocking way to target people with what seems like free money,” concluded the spokesperson.